Paris, Reuters — Guinness World Records informed Frenchman Richard Plaud on Thursday that his 7.2-meter (23.6 feet) matchstick Eiffel Tower had indeed set a record height, overturning their previous rejection due to the use of incorrect matches.
Plaud expressed feeling on an “emotional rollercoaster” after devoting 4,200 hours over eight years to constructing his model from over 706,000 matches and 23 kilograms (51 pounds) of glue.
“For eight years, I’ve always thought that I was building the tallest matchstick structure,” he shared with Reuters.
Initially, Guinness World Records informed him that he did not qualify as he had not utilized matches that were “commercially available.”
Plaud began by using commercial matches but later sought permission from the manufacturer to purchase only the wooden sticks without the head, leading to Guinness rejecting his attempt.
Mark McKinley, director of central records services at Guinness World Records, expressed excitement over approving Plaud’s achievement, admitting that they had been too stringent regarding the match type requirement. He stated, “Richard’s attempt truly is officially amazing
